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The long design length makes sense for versatility. Having the option to work with some very long stock for legs or the mega long bowl is nice. For portability need to figure out some form of stable folding leg system. Longer seat is a good idea. For dumb head attachment the peg & friction fit is nice and tight, but a bit more fiddle for switch over. Thinking more of a mortise & tendon attachment. Bit like how some rudder tillers are attached, but with the tendon extending couple inches proud just in case a peg hole with removal peg is needed to keep the head firmly affixed. Have been reaming out adjustment holes. Allows for easier insertion and removal of the 1/2 doweling. Don't notice any slop or play. Found some nice stock for the sacrificial rails in my scrap pile of lumber. Left over red oak baseboard trim (~4 x 0.5 inches) from when the house was built +20 years ago. Pays to be a pack rat:).

I wonder if a head that pivoted on the swing arm (rather than being rigidly fixed) might work? That would allow the front face to always be perpendicular to the log/slot. Something like the moving stop on Wille Sundqvist's bowl holder (featured in the trailer for his new DVD and in his book). Actually, I don't recall coming across anybody on the forum that has tried/built any of Wille's various bowl holding contraptions - some are quite ingenious, some fairly complex. The one I mentioned here - which might be a traditional design - is a bit like a cross between Robin Wood's bowlmate & the David Fisher's bowlhorse. Or, the David Fisher bowlhorse is a bit like a cross between Wille's bowl holder and a dumbhead shave horse. I'll try to find a picture...something like this (although it can be scaled down & put on legs):http://www.countryworkshops.org/newsletter9/

Last edited by ToneWood on Tue Nov 18, 2014 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

A dah moment. Built as outlined on David Fisher's website, the maximum length exceeds my reach comfort. Solution when working on a very long bowl was to weight the foot board and work from a standing position.

arborrider wrote:...the maximum length exceeds my reach comfort. Solution when working on a very long bowl was to weight the foot board and work from a standing position.

Have done that myself. But don't forget that you can work on the closest half of a very long bowl and then turn it around and work on the other half I find that is often desirable/necessary anyway because of the grain orientation on the curved sides & top, side-lips.